Thursday, May 03, 2018

The Woodsman

When it was announced that I would be chairing OzCon 2018, I knew I wanted to reach out to one potential guest of honor in particular: James Ortiz.

James is the co-creator of the one-act play The Woodsman, a somewhat surreal experience that retells the story of how Nick Chopper came to be the Tin Woodman, based on the account in The Tin Woodman of Oz.

I had to admit, I wasn't familiar with The Woodsman, but I knew about it thanks to editing the Oz and Ends column for The Baum Bugle. A particular contributor sent me several updates about the show, so many that I had to remind him that we couldn't possibly use them all. Just that the show was opening, how long it'd be running, and a broadcast of the recording airing and appearing on BroadwayHD as an exclusive.

Well, now I have seen it. And everything positive I'd heard about the show was true. The show uses mainly music, visuals and human-produced sound effects to tell the story, the most dialogue being in an opening monologue to set the stage of this world. The characters of the Tin Woodman, the Wicked Witch and the animals of Oz are created through puppets, animated by actors onstage dressed as the Munchkins. Being a theatrical production, the audience is to use their imagination to fill in the gaps and pretend those people aren't there.

The show might be considered by some to be dark with the very creepy Wicked Witch and the original story of a man being dismembered being presented faithfully. Yet there's a spirit of whimsy present in the proceedings that feels right for Oz.

Legal

All original content on this blog is copyright of the respective writers. No copying of posts is allowed except for private purposes, including offline viewing, printing, but this excludes use in commercial print materials and other media without the consent of the writer. (This means posting it elsewhere online is not allowed!) Quoting blog entries is allowed as long as a link is provided to the original blog. In addition, quotes are allowed in print materials, as long as the source is cited.

Illustrations, photographs, screencaptures, and videos are the copyrights of their respective owners and used under the fair use clause of the copyright law. If you feel such use violates your copyrights, please contact Mr. Davis. Following the DMCA, we will remove any infringing material promptly. Any completely original artwork or photography is copyright of its producer, and should not be copied without permission.

All opinions expressed are those of the person expressing them and may not be shared by other writers on this blog.

AUTHORS AND CREATORS OF MATERIAL THAT MAY BE REVIEWEDIf I review a book or other media created by you, the statements in my review reflect my own opinions from the first exposure to your work. All reviews will be unbiased, except in the case of series, where the logical comparison to previous entries will apply. Any quotes or use of images are used under the terms of Fair Use.

If I am asked to review your work, this does not promise a positive review. You, as the author or creator, must accept what review I write. I reserve the right to remove the review with or without notice to you. Please note that retaliation for negative reviews is highly unprofessional, and acts of such may be viewed as harassment.